In today's CMU Daily:
- World waits for G8 after live 8
- Live 8 tabloid nonsense
- Vandross and Four Top Benson die
- JK and Joel get early show at Radio 1
- Super Furry single
- Album review: Brakes - Give Blood
- Test Icicles tour
- Oasis, er, entertain the crowd
- Album review: Various Artists: Life:Styles mixed by Bugz In The Attic
- Roni Size documentary on BBC3
- ITC unsigned
- Chart update
- Queen release live album and DVD
- McFly release new single
- Update announces changes to Buzz Chart
- Pete and Kate record demo shocker
- Pink pops the question

--------------------------------------------------

BLATANT PLUGGING>>

CMU is currently piloting a new audioDaily service, which we will be podcasting daily from Sep. You can sneak into our test transmissions by clicking on the podcast button at http://www.cmumusicnetwork.co.uk - you can also subscribe to the podcast service there. Do let us know what you think - there's a questionnaire to fill out online, or you can email comments direct to chris@unlimitedmedia.co.uk. Also get in touch if you want to find out about UnLimited Digital's podcasting services - which we are now able to off to other media wanting to reach people through this newest of online distribution channels.

--------------------------------------------------

TOP BIT>>

*** MILK MUSIC IS A BESPOKE MUSIC SUPERVISION AND CONSULTANCY SERVICE covering all creative and legal areas of music supervision and clearance. We offer the one stop shop solution for all your music needs. From sourcing and licensing to original composition, creative consultancy and overall project supervision. Contact us for a sampler... Milk Music... Fresh ideas about music delivered direct to your door - call 020 8769 2848, email info@milk-music.com or check http://www.milk-music.com

WORLD WAITS FOR G8 AFTER LIVE 8
Well, whether or not Live 8 will make poverty history only time will tell, but it certainly put a new perspective on what you can get away with saying on prime time Saturday night telly. The BBC may have received 350 complaints, but that isn't so many given that as Snoop Dogg completed his tea time set he asked his audience, and the millions of families watching at home, "what's my mother-fucking name?". Go Snoop Dogg. That said, it was Madonna who got in first with her opening line "Are you fucking ready London?", and Razorlight's Johnny Borrell continued the theme by telling his audience to "sign the fucking petition". It's not all that long ago that any use of the f word on prime time would have caused moral outrage, and it still would in the US of course. It's nice to know we live in such enlightened times - though it remains to be seen how many of you fail to get today's CMU Daily because your servers won't deliver emails with swear words in them!

Anyway, back to Live 8 itself, and artistically few can deny it was one hell of a day, even if the London event did over run two hours (quite how I don't know, just how little time was each artist originally scheduled?). Tens of millions of people across the world tuned into TV coverage of the events in Tokyo, Moscow, Berlin, Rome, Paris, Johannesburg, London, Philadelphia and Toronto, while AOL reported that five million logged onto their webcasts of the event. Meanwhile some 26.4 million text messages were received as part of a 'live petition' calling on political leaders to act on debt, aid and trade issues in Africa.

The number of people tuning in was, of course, the most important bit, given that the aim of the whole thing was to rally public opinion to the Make Poverty History cause, in doing so putting pressure on the political leaders of the G8 nations to take radical decisions on debt, aid and trade in and with Africa, in a bid to alleviate the poverty trap there. Bob Geldof, speaking after the successful completion of Saturday's concerts, was upbeat about the chances of considerable moves being made when the G8 leaders meet in Scotland this week. He told the BBC: "Mahatma Gandhi freed a continent, Martin Luther King freed a people, Nelson Mandela freed a country. It does work. They will listen."

Others are less optimistic. While the Live 8 concerts were big news in Western Europe, they did not dominate the news agenda in the US, Russia or Tokyo, meaning political leaders from three crucial nations at the G8 Conference will not be feeling the same domestic pressure to act on these issues than their European counterparts. Others still question just how much power the G8 leaders have in making poverty history, and point out the role that African political leaders need to play - ironically Live 8's profile was probably lowest in Africa itself, though to be fair that has a lot to do with lacking communication infrastructure. Others still point out that the poverty problem is caused by much more wide reaching economic issues than have been so far discussed, that the international structures of capitalist power would have to be changed significantly for any real headway to be made in combating poverty in the long term, and that that would involve targeting the wealth and power of the very kinds of people that made Live 8 happen (rich celebrities, multi-national companies, major politicians).

But that's way too much political nonsense for a Monday morning edition of a pop newsletter, and shouldn't undermine just how important a contribution the music business has made to a very commendable cause. If nothing else, the passion and efforts of Geldof et al will ensure the Make Poverty History campaign is higher up the agenda at this week's G8 conference than at any previous meeting of world leaders, and that is surely a good thing. Bring on that final Live 8 event in Edinburgh, and let's hope some big things are achieved in Gleneagles later this week.

--------------------------------------------------

LIVE 8 TABLOID NONSENSE
Less political theory, more tabloid gossip. According to the People, Bob Geldof and Midge Ure were involved in a furious back stage row as the Live 8 concert kicked off in London on Saturday. Apparently Geldof was meant to duet with his fellow Band Aid co-founder when he performed the Boomtown Rats track 'I Don't Like Mondays' in Saturday.

However Geldof took to the stage earlier than expected, without Ure, and performed the track alone. Ure, the paper claims, was not impressed, with one source telling the tabloid that: "Midge stormed around, calling Bob every name under the sun. The air was blue. Bob had promised that this time he'd be up on stage with him. But he neglected to tell Midge when that would be and strolled on without him. Midge was in the VIP hospitality area when he heard Bob. No-one knows if Bob did it deliberately or just forgot."

There have always been tensions between the two Band Aid founders, mainly because Geldof has taken centre stage ever since the original Band Aid project transformed from a charity record into an ongoing humanitarian effort. At the original Live Aid the Ultravox and Boomtown Rats sets were mysteriously swapped over at the last minute, meaning that Geldof got to perform before the Prince and Princess Of Wales left. Legend has it Geldof instigated the last minute switch, though he's always denied knowing anything about it!

Other tabloid attention was focused on Pink Floyd men Roger Waters and Dave Gilmour, who apparently continued to bicker backstage despite their glorious return to form on stage; on Pete Doherty who brought his usual shambolic style to the proceedings by bumbling through his collaboration with Elton John and then acting very strangely back stage; and on Ricky Gervais, who pissed off tabloid journalists everywhere with his quip that the concert was going to end because world leaders had agreed to boost world aid - before adding "I'm joking of course...they haven't quadrupled aid, we can carry on." The Sunday Mirror for one wasn't impressed, quoting Comic Relief co-founder and Live 8 supporter Richard Curtis as saying: "Ricky Gervais doesn't know his arse from his elbow. He was using world poverty for a gag. I don't know who invited him here." Obviously ignoring the fact that if you have to occasionally laugh about these things because, if you didn't, you'd surely have to commit suicide.

--------------------------------------------------

VANDROSS AND FOUR TOP BENSON DIE
American soul singer Luther Vandross has died, two years after suffering a major stroke. The 54 year old singer had sold over 25 million albums over this career, and won dozens of awards, including four grammys for his final album, 'Dance With My Father', released after his stroke.

Tributes poured in from fellow stars, including Aretha Franklin, Patti LaBelle, Roberta Flack, Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson. His publicist, Jeff O'Conner, said the singer's death was "a huge loss in the R&B industry", adding: "He was a close friend of mine and right now it's shocking," he was quoted by the Associated Press as saying.

Meanwhile Renaldo "Obie" Benson, a member of Motown singing group the Four Tops, also died this weekend, aged 69. He was suffering from lung cancer. Fellow Four Tops member Abdul 'Duke' Fakir told reporters that Benson had "enjoyed every moment of his life", adding: "He put a smile on everyone's face, including my own".

--------------------------------------------------

JK AND JOEL GET EARLY SHOW AT RADIO 1
Radio 1 chart show hosts JK and Joel have taken another step closer to the pop station's breakfast show by taking over the Early Breakfast slot. They will replace Nemone on the 4am - 7am slot from Sep.

Commenting on their new show, JK and Joel told reporters: "This is a slot that we intend to make our own. We've got the brilliant mix of new music and we now want to stamp our personality on the show. We already get to reveal the official number one every Sunday so it's amazing that we're now going to be on the station throughout the week as well."

Radio 1 boss Andy Parfitt added: "JK and Joel are Radio 1 talents. They've got engaging personalities and a real sense of fun. They've done a great job on the new chart show and we felt it was time that our audience got to hear a lot more of them. We are always sad to lose a team member and Nemone has been brilliant in her five years at the station. I've been impressed with her recent work on Radio 5 Live and I wish her all success for the future."

PS - The BBC have announced that the new look Top Of The Pops will launch on 17 Jul on BBC2. More on that tomorrow.

--------------------------------------------------

SUPER FURRY SINGLE
Super Furry Animals are to release a brand new single 'Laser Beam', on 8 Aug, which will be followed by the release of new album 'Love Craft' on 22 Aug. The group also plan to tour the UK and Ireland in the autumn.

--------------------------------------------------

ALBUM REVIEW: Brakes - Give Blood (Rough Trade)
Chaps, wear your trousers too tight and, so science warns us (that's the intellectual study of things, not the Big Brother divot), any unfortunate child you may bear will probably come out squashed really small. Or something. Similarly, though we have no scientific proof for this one, secure your retro tin helmet around your bonce too firmly and you can expect the equivalent effect on your helpless grey matter. And we don't see anyone fighting the corner for Eamon (part time Brakes frontman, full time British Sea Power spare part) and his sanity. It's no surprise then that all that he has borne has come out squished - 16 tracks, a tidy 28 minutes. He and his esteemed indie colleagues (Tom & Alex from Electric Soft Parade, Mark from Tenderfoot) have already rattled through an ugly disfigured punk soundbyte and swinging bell-bottomed disco uber-craic, the singles 'Pick Up The Phone' and 'All Night Disco Party' respectively. And here they add to that with oddles of punk larking under an oddly alt-country dress code. 'You're So Pretty', for instance, sounds like the Lemonheads fronted by a cast member from Fraggle Rock. But that's about as sensible as it gets. 'Heard About Your Band' has the man screeching "you shared a cab with Karen O! Oh oh, oh oh oh!!" over the Electric Soft Parade on ketamine, and 'NY Pie' is a mix of old pop standard 'Oh Boy!' and anything by George Formby. Who could have guessed that a lobotomy would sound so tuneful though? JB
Release Date: 4 Jul
Press Contact: Rough Trade IH [all]

--------------------------------------------------

TEST ICICLES TOUR
Up and comers Test Icicles have announced a series of tour dates this summer, and will release their debut single 'Boa Vs Python' on 1 Aug.

OASIS, ER, ENTERTAIN THE CROWD
Well, you'd think they would, as it is their job. But in this case they did it without the aid of music, for twenty five minutes, at their gig in Manchester on Saturday. The band were forced to stop playing early on in the concert, after a barrier broke and proceedings had to be put on hold until it was fixed. Noel announced to the crowd "Alright look I've been told the barrier at the front has broken down so if everyone can just take one or two steps back we'll start playing again. Otherwise we can't go on with the show. If anybody does get injured though make sure they get a fucking t-shirt on the way out."

To pass the time, Noel apparently told jokes and urged the fans to sing: "Who the fuck are Man Utd?" but Liam evidently got bored with this, and shouted "Let's just get somebody in the crowd to get their tits out." So a lot of girls did, to great applause. Noel commented "Can you imagine what the people outside must be thinking with all this cheering going on and no music? They must be wondering what the fuck is going on. You wouldn't get this at a Coldplay gig would you?"

The problem was eventually solved and the band went on to play tracks from new album 'Don't Believe The Truth', as well as some classic Oasis tracks.

--------------------------------------------------

ALBUM REVIEW: Various Artists: Life:Styles mixed by Bugz In The Attic (Harmless)
Sadly, I haven't enjoyed any of these Life:Styles compilations thus far, and this one hasn't changed the trend. The Bugz collective are about that nu London soul / broken beat sound, and here they select some old soul pieces, many released before many of the BITA crew were born, but all fall in to the category of 'influences'. There are a few nuggets here; Roy Ayers 'Chicago' always elicits a smile, and 'Sweet Thing' by Convertion is an unquestionable classic. Will Downing's early acid house track 'In My Dreams' and Leon Haywards 'I Wanna do Something Freaky to You' are both cool, but there is so much here too that is deeply average. Gaye's 'Heavy Love Affair' is overrated, in my opinion, Jermaine Jackson 'Come to Me' is only alright, with neither the overly sugary 'Endless Flight' by R. Franklin, or Herbie Hancock's 'Sun Touch' raising the stakes much. When the present catches up, it's with a dash of Hip Hop from Slum Village from 98. This collection is so navel gazing that it's looking directly into its own peritoneal cavity. Far too over indulgent; but that's Life:Styles for you. PV
Release date: 4 Jul
Press contact: Phuture Trax IH

--------------------------------------------------

RONI SIZE DOCUMENTARY ON BBC3
A documentary about Roni Size is to be broadcast on BBC Three as part of their current 'Picture Of Britain' series. The programme, called 'Picture Of Bristol by Roni Size' paints a personal portrait of the physical and cultural landscape that shaped the musician and his work, and features his original soundtrack. The Mercury Music Prize winner explores the diversity of his home town and the inextricable links his music has to the city of Bristol. The programme airs on BBC Three on Monday 11 Jul at 7.30pm.

--------------------------------------------------

ITC UNSIGNED
The deadline is getting close for In The City 2005's unsigned showcase, so spread the word. ITC Unsigned, of course, is the unsigned bit of In The City, the biggest music industry gathering in the UK - and one of the largest in Europe outside Midem. Among the bands who have played here before are Coldplay, Muse, The Stereophonics, Oasis, Catatonia, Funeral For A Friend, JJ72, The Darkness, The Raveonettes, Elastica and, last year, Tom Vek, The Paddingtons, The Subways and Towers Of London - so quite a good record then. The deadline for unsigned bands interested in putting themselves forward for consideration for this year's event is 22 Jul. Full info is online at http://www.itc2005.com/unsigned

--------------------------------------------------

CHART UPDATE
Well, Charlotte Church has gone in at number 2 this week, with that song that glories in the lyrics 'I need professional help', and the title 'Crazy Chick'. On T4 at the weekend she told Jones and Sarpong that she didn't mind only being number 2, because, after all, Crazy Frog beat Coldplay. Although to be fair, she was beaten by a much less irritating, if dead, contender (er, Tupac, if that's not clear).

James Blunt stays at number 3 with his new anthem for doomed romance 'You're Beautiful', Crazy Frog is at 4 and Audio Bullys at 5. Other new entries include the Backstreet Boys with 'Incomplete' at 8, Mario with 'Here I Go Again' at 11, The Faders with 'Jump' at 21, The Tears with 'Lovers' at 24, and Feeder with 'Pushing The Senses' at 30.

In the album chart, champions of mediocrity Coldplay are still at 1 with 'X&Y', whilst James Blunt is still keeping the nation pensive with 'Back To Bedlam' at number 2. Lots of re-entries, this week, and a new entry from Kano with 'Home Sweet Home' at 36.

--------------------------------------------------

QUEEN RELEASE LIVE ALBUM AND DVD
Queen are to release a Live Album on 12 Sep, followed by an accompanying DVD on 24 Oct. The content for the releases was recorded at a concert in Sheffield earlier in the year, during their first tour for 19 years, with former Free singer Paul Rodgers on vocalist duties. A full tracklisting has yet to be confirmed.

--------------------------------------------------

MCFLY RELEASE NEW SINGLE
Well, we miss Busted. But at least McFly are still going. They are all set to release a new single 'I'll Be Okay' on 15 Aug, with an album release two weeks later. Hurrah.

--------------------------------------------------

UPDATE ANNOUNCES CHANGES TO BUZZ CHART
Weekly dance music report Update has announced changes to the compilation of the DMC Buzz Chart. From now on the chart, featured on Pete Tong's Essential Selection since the eighties, of course, will be compiled by Lewis Dene, (Update reviewer and former Radio One producer), Dean Thatcher (Update reviewer and DJ/Producer), Jerry Bouthier (French DJ/Producer and house pioneer), Nico Deceglia (Italian DJ, scout for the Essential Selection) and Damian Wilson (producer of the Essential Selection).

Publisher Tony Prince told CMU: "We want to reflect a broader taste-band in the Buzz Chart. We also want the chart to fulfil it's potential as a feature on Pete Tong's Essential Selection especially as it was Pete who asked us to come up with new weekly charts back in 1986".

Update are also revamping their website, with plans for more reviews and links to labels artists and producers.

--------------------------------------------------

PETE AND KATE RECORD DEMO SHOCKER
Pete Doherty and Kate Moss have apparently recorded a demo together, a cover of Divinyls song 'I Touch Myself'. According to The Mirror, they think their version will be a big hit because it expresses their "deep love for each other."

The tabloid reports that it was all Pete could talk about backstage at Live 8: "Pete was harping on to anyone who cared to listen about how great Kate sounds on the track. Only a few close friends have heard the demo. Kate has always loved the song and thinks it's just perfect for her and Pete...It defines what everyone says about them. It's a passionate song - and Kate wants everyone to know that Pete turns her on."

And god knows, we all really want to know that, so thanks, Kate.

--------------------------------------------------

PINK POPS THE QUESTION
Pink has proposed to motorbike star boyfriend Carey Hart. During a race in Mammoth, California, the singer held up a sign that read "Will You Marry Me?' as he rode past. She then turned the message over and wrote 'I'm serious'. Reports suggest Hart probably said 'yes', because he pulled of the track and kissed her. Aww.